Shade Flowers
SHADE FLOWERS Episode Four, Season Three, of Rise. Enjoy <3 Shade Flowers I stare at Vicky for a few long seconds before the brown she-cat narrows her eyes. “I’ll only give this offer one more time. If you bring me Shadeflower tomorrow morning here at the border, then I will give you more information on Terran.” “That’s one night.” Vicky smirks, “I see you can count and tell time.” I meant to ask how Vicky was planning to get information on Terran in just one night, but the she-cat turns and picks up something that was sitting behind her. “Here,” she thrusts leaves at me, “these will help Karina wake up from her coma.” I take them, a little dumbfounded but as soon as all the leaves are in my possession, Vicky turns and disappears. Slowly but surely, I walk back to camp. It isn’t until I reach the camp that I realize that Vicky shouldn’t have even known about Karina’s condition. How did she know? But I shake the thought out of my mind for now and enter Flameshadow’s den. The medicine cat looks up, despite the fact that it’s night time and he should be resting. “Bryce,” he greets me, “what can I do for you?” “I have plants that can be used for Karina’s condition if her situation becomes critical. I would try all your remedies first though.” Flameshadow takes the leaves I offer him. “How do you know these will work?” I curse myself for not thinking up of a story. “I remembered it from a story my mother told me when I was a kit,” I lie, “but I’m not sure if these are the right ones or if they’ll work. But if Karina still won’t wake up, I plead you to try these.” Flameshadow doesn’t question my story and places the leaves in a small compartment on the side. “Rest assured. I’ll make sure to only use this if nothing else works,” he promises. “Thank you,” I say gratefully. “Where did you get these?” Flameshadow finishes storing them away, “Perhaps if Karina will need more of these or if other cats are in a similar condition, I can go find these leaves and use them.” Fox-dung. I hadn’t picked these myself. “It was far out, near the Twolegplace,” I say decisively, “but these were the last of it’s clump. I had to gather all of them because there was barely enough leaves.” The medicine cat nods. “You should still show me one day. They might grow again, especially if you didn’t pick from the roots.” “Maybe some day,” I agree faintly, though I don’t know how I would follow through with that. I turn to leave, only to remember one more thing. “Also, can I take Shadeflower outside for a walk tomorrow morning?” Flameshadow is already busying his paws. “Sure,” he nods once with a glance over at me, “I think it would be good for her, to start going out more instead of staying cooped up in here instead.” I thank the kind tom again before ducking out of the medicine cat den. I step into mine, seeing my sisters asleep. I almost anticipate Terran there, with his body curled around my sisters’ to keep them warm. Of course, the disappointment sinks in when I realize there’s no one in the den but my sisters. Karina is in the medicine cat den while Terran is out somewhere on Viper territory where I can’t reach him. Vicky’s words haunt me but I refuse to let that change my hope that Terran will return. That he’ll care and come back to reassure me that he’s all right. (And the others…not just me of course.) I curl up next to my sisters and I’m fast asleep before I know it. ~ I dream of standing with Terran on the top of the Dip, looking down. Except we’re on the Vipers’ side. The view from here is totally different, with fewer trees dotting the opposite end. The Dip itself looks different. The lush from the grass that used to be there has dried and turned into an ugly-brown. The plantation has been stripped away, leaving only dirt and of course the dead grass. “What happened?” I gasp, looking around. “Hatred happened,” Terran’s voice is warm and comforting, despite his words. I find myself leaning into him, feeling so safe. His voice has never had this kind of effect no my before. “You mean the vendetta that the Vipers have had against the Coalition?” I ask, closing my eyes briefly. “No,” Terran’s voice hardens, as if this is a personal subject, “I mean the vendetta that the Coalition has had against the Vipers. The Vipers came in for a piece of territory and a home, but it was the Coalition that attacked first, both Clans trying to drive out the Vipers.” “That’s not the story I’ve heard.” My eyes flash open in surprise. Terran scoffs, “Of course not. You’ve lived with the Coalition this entire time, wrapped in their lies. They are no better than the Vipers. No side of a war is good, because they’re always aiming to kill the innocent just to achieve their goal.” “So do the Vipers!” I lash my tail, drawing away from Terran. I can’t even believe he would suggest this. “They take prisoners, they torture them! The Coalition don’t even do that.” The story doesn’t match up to what Nightshadow and Feathershine have told me. Perhaps yes, the Coalition has its faults, like killing Vipers, but they ''are attacking the Coalition, aiming to kill as well.'' There is no way to make a war fair and just. When I turn around to tell Terran this, he’s gone. I realize I’m back on the Coalition side, and Terran is far, far away, standing alone on the other side, his eyes hard and cold as they gaze back at me. ~ I wake up with a start. The image of Terran’s cold, Viper-like eyes are imprinted in my brain. I hurriedly walk outside, feeling the cool, morning air wake me up. It’s earlier than dawn, I realize, but Feathershine and Nightshadow are already up, ready for the dawn patrol. “Hey Bryce!” Nightshadow waves me over, “Do you want to join us?” I glance back at my den, “But my sisters…” “I’ll watch them!” Applepaw sprints for my den, faster than Nightshadow. The black tom sighs but smiles at me. “Guess there goes Applepaw’s dawn patrol experience,” he laughs, “let’s get going.” I pad out after them, deciding that I would take Shadeflower to Vicky later in the day, as the she-cat needs time to find something to satisfy my needs. I decide to mention my dream last night by bringing up the war history. “How long have the Coalition and the Vipers been fighting?” I am genuinely curious, and they don’t question it. “A few moons I guess,” Nightshadow frowns. “Feathershine and I were apprentices then.” “We met at a Gathering,” Feathershine explains, “the Coalition hadn’t formed yet and so we were just apprentices from different Clans. We didn’t start dating until after the Coalition formed to fight against the Vipers, but by then the two Clans had already been fighting the Vipers for a few moons.” “The Coalition has been here for maybe five,” Nightshadow admits, “we’ve been fighting the Vipers for eight.” “Did the Coalition attack the Vipers first?” Nightshadow shakes his head. “No way. We were willing to let them be there but the Vipers wanted more. They attacked DuskClan first in an attempt to take DuskClan’s territory. When that didn’t work, they moved to DawnClan as well.” The story doesn’t match to what Terran had told me in my dream. I’m beginning to wonder if that was real and Terran had actually been there, trying to tell me something, or if it was fake. Perhaps another drug. We draw closer to the Viper border and I’m reminded on how I met Vicky. I scan the border for the brown she-cat, but she’s nowhere to be seen. I hope she’s not lurking around, seeing that I had brought two other cats instead of Shadeflower. I duck behind Feathershine, trying to act like one of them, apart of the dawn patrol, instead of looking as if I was trying to meet Vicky. When I do finally look up, I realize that I can see a flash of white near the top of the Viper border. Terran. I let out a cry and surge forward. Feathershine lets out a yelp and jumps after me, tackling me to the ground. I hit it hard, rolling with Feathershine dangerously close to the Viper border. “Let me go!” I shout, “I saw Terran!” Feathershine doesn’t let me go, however, and I put up more of a fight. Nightshadow joins her in holding me down. “That wasn’t Terran,” Nightshadow says calmly, “if it was him, he would have come down here instead of disappearing farther into the Viper border.” Memories of what Vicky told me flashes in my brain but I slowly relax. I have to believe Nightshadow. Terran wouldn’t purposely turn his back on me, right? He was loyal to the Coalition now and whatever he was doing on the Viper side, he was doing for our sake. The two warriors let me up and help me back up the Dip. “Don’t worry,” Feathershine whispers to me, “Terran will be back soon and Karina will be on her paws.” I lean against her slightly, trying to let her words soothe me. But we’re both unconvinced and Nightshadow wordlessly just leads us back to camp. They excuse themselves to catch up on some sleep but I’m still wide awake. I stop by my den to see if Jewel and Emerald are awake but someone tells me that they’re playing with the Coalition kits again. I head to Flameshadow’s den next, asking him if I could take Shadeflower out for a walk. The medicine cat agrees and I sneak a glance at Karina, who looks the same. Since the battle, Shadeflower has been calm and collected, with a spark in her eyes. She speaks more to all of us, but never shows a sign of what had happened. Nightshadow tells me that one of the warriors had seen her attacking Terran over and over during the battle. I still found that strange, but I shake the thought out of my mind and lead Shadeflower towards the Viper border. “Please don’t freak out on me,” I mutter under my breath. The last thing I needed was for Shadeflower to have a breakdown. She stays calm the entire time, even as recognition sparks in her eyes at the sight of the Viper border. She flattens her ears. “Why are we here?” She asks, turning on me. I’m so shocked by her question, surprised at the fact that she had spoken first that I found no answer. Vicky suddenly appears, taking her chance. “Bryce,” she greets, “I see you’ve brought Shadeflower.” Shadeflower spins around, her amber eyes fierce and angry. I can see signs that might have been Shadeflower’s old self. Her eyes are clear and full of intelligence. I blink several times, trying to decide whether or not I’m hallucinating from lack of sleep. “''You'',” she hisses, “you were the one who fed me those plants.” “They were for your own good,” Vicky gives the dark gray she-cat a sly smile. She draws out some strange leaves and Shadeflower flinches away from them. Vicky merely uses a claw to draw on it lightly, light enough that it looks like dust on the leaf. When she rubs it with a paw, the marks disappear easily. Slowly but surely, Vicky draws. Shadeflower reacts differently to each drawing, and I watch in slight awe as Vicky seems to be able to predict whatever Shadeflower is about to do. When she stops, Vicky looks pleased. “Stop,” Shadeflower suddenly snaps out of her stupor, “stop using me.” She backs away from Vicky, her amber eyes wide with fear and anger. “Please just stop,” she whispers, before turning around and running back to camp. I begin to start after Shadeflower, crying out in terror. What if Shadeflower lost her way? I had to make sure she got back to camp safely. “Thank you,” Vicky calls after me, “you and I will do great things, Bryce, trust me.” Trust? I snort at that. I realize that I haven’t gotten any information from Vicky but I’m reluctant to leave Shadeflower alone. I don’t respond to the brown she-cat and take off, sprinting up the Dip after the dark gray she-cat. I catch up to Shadeflower near the camp, where she’s curled up and sobbing. “Shade flowers,” the dark gray she-cat whispers to me, “that’s what they are. Named after me because I was the first experiment.” She must have noticed my stare because she raises her gaze to meet mine. “The battle woke me up,” she says finally, “I felt a stirring in my blood and it caused me to set out after the battle patrols. When we came back, I felt the sleepy feeling go away. I felt my mind awaken and sharpen. That she-cat wants something from me, and she’s waking me up to use me.” Shadeflower stands and stalks into camp. Wordlessly, I follow her, unsure what else to do. If what Shadeflower says is right, what do I have against Vicky? What can I do to stop her from using Shadeflower for her own good? Or even worse, for the Vipers? The final question shakes me to the roots. Why did Shadeflower only go for Terran in the battle? Is there a reason Terran was attacked that day, and then taken? The End. Category:Fan Fictions Category:Cchen3's Fanfics Category:Rise